Carpet products (e.g., broadloom carpet and/or modular carpet products such as carpet tile) comprise a backing (e.g., a woven backing and/or a nonwoven backing) having a plurality of tufts extending therethrough. Due to the construction of various carpet products, the edges of the carpet products can be subject to fraying after exposure to even minimal shear or other forces applied to a top surface of the carpet product.
Accordingly, in typical installations, such as in residential and in certain commercial applications, carpet products may be installed in areas such that the edges of the carpet products are not subject to extensive forces (e.g., by positioning the edges of carpet products adjacent walls, under protective panels (e.g., baseboards) and/or the like. Alternatively, the edges of adjacent carpet products may be secured relative to one another (e.g., by seaming two or more adjacent carpet products together), which helps to prevent fraying. For example, adjacent carpet products may be seamed together by taping or heat sealing two or more adjacent carpet products. The overall shape of the carpet product may be maintained by securing the carpet product to the floors, walls, and/or the like over which the carpet is installed (e.g., via one or more tack strips).
However, for certain carpet installations, such as those in aircraft or other vehicles, various restrictions may prevent, or make it difficult, to seam adjacent carpet products, and various carpet product edges may remain exposed. For example, in commercial passenger aircraft, carpet products may be placed around seat legs, around floor-level lighting (e.g., emergency lighting), and/or the like. Accordingly, the edges of such carpet products may remain exposed and subject to heavy amounts of force due to the heavy “foot traffic” of passengers walking across the surface of the carpet and any roll-aboard luggage. Moreover, weight restrictions, heat restrictions, and/or government regulations may prevent the use of seaming techniques to secure adjacent carpet components. Accordingly, the edges of the carpet products installed in aircraft may be exposed, and thus such carpet products may be subject to fraying after extended exposure to foot traffic throughout the aircraft.
The underlying floor structure of the aircraft is typically subject to some expansion and contraction during travel due to altitude and temperature changes and other forces experienced by the fuselage. Accordingly, carpet products secured directly to the floor structure of the aircraft (e.g., via double-sided tape) are subject to additional shear and tensile/compressive forces as the floor structure expands and contracts relative to the carpet product. Such continuous expansion and contraction may cause undesirable open joints to form between adjacent carpet products, and may cause the carpet product to compress and “buckle.”
The edges of carpet products utilized in aircraft are thus often serged (e.g., by binding the edge of the carpet within a thread looped around the edge of the carpet) and/or taped (e.g., by sewing a fabric tape around the edge of the carpet product) to maintain the integrity of the edge of the carpet product. However, serged and/or taped edges may still be subject to fraying after continued exposure to shear forces, and visually highlight the presence of an edge or seam.